Funny How Life Works
by RachelSkywalker01
Summary: Rebec a fiery red-headed American girl, seems to have the worst life imaginable. With no friends and a little brother to take care of, she knows next to nothing about love. But when she suddenly finds herself in Narnia everything changes. EdmundXOC Edited
1. Chapter 1

I couldn't take it anymore. Not the beatings, not the drunken rages, not even the apologetic sober states.

My father's a drunkard, my mother, a coward.

In other words, my life sucks. If I don't get bullied one day, I'll be beaten the next. Actually, I get beaten and bullied every day, so it really doesn't make a difference.

In other words, my life sucks. Really sucks.

The world, as I put it, mocks me. It shouts "Hey everyone, come check out Rebecca, the Queen of the losers!"

Hence, my nickname Rebec, not only does it sound like rebel, but also reject, which is simply what I am.

A royal rebel reject.

Funny how life works huh?


	2. Chapter 2

Funny How Life Works 2

**OK, after reading some reviews, I have realized that what time period Rebec is from. She is from WW2 time, same as the Pevencies. **

**-Rebec's POV-**

_If A divided by 7 equals 3, then what is the value of A?_

I tapped my stub of pencil against my head, feeling the cool metal end prick my temple, trying to think of the answer to the first problem of my math test. Putting down the answer, _21_, I zoomed in on the next question.

_If B times- _

"Hey! Rebec the Reject! What's the answer to number one?" Whispered Richard Hitchcock, behind me. Rolling my eyes, I ignored him, and continued on with the quiz.

A couple of minutes later, I finished, and flipped my paper over, doodling a lion on the back. I don't know why I always drew lions when I was bored, but whatever I was making always ended up looking like the king of the jungle.

Finishing the last traces of hair in its mane, something caught my eye. The tail, it MOVED.

Jumping a little, I looked around at my other classmates, to see if they had seen anything. The only sounds disturbing the silence were the scrabbling of pencils against paper, as the oblivious students tried to fill in all the answers before time was out.

Turning back to my drawing, the lion was pacing impatiently around the width of the white space it was trapped in; leaving scribbled grey paw prints, that did not come from my pencil, in its wake. As I watched, it turned to me, and gave off a mighty, mute roar in my direction, then turned and proceeded to dig its claws into the whiteness behind it. At first the scratches didn't look like anything, but as the seconds drug on, the lines revealed a castle, set in mist, being released by the morning sun's rays. Once the castle was finished, the lion proceeded to seat itself on the words beneath it, twitching its tail out of pride. The words read, _Cair Paravel, Narnia_.

"TIME'S UP!"

Startled, I jumped out of my seat, only to hit the floor, much to the amusement of my classmates.

Receiving a harsh glare from the teacher, I slipped back into my desk, wanting to sink down and hide deep underground away from the harsh world.

Glancing back at the lion, the castle was gone, and he remained still, as if everything that happened, had only happened in my head.

Passing up the test, I tried to calm down, but the whole ordeal had left me breathless, and wondering what and where Cair_ Paravel_ was.

As soon as we were dismissed from class, I bolted out of the room, not wanting to get caught by Richard and his gang at the end of class.

Once outside, I dashed towards my locker, twirled the lock open, grabbed what I would need for the night, and turned around, to meet the face of the very boy I was trying to avoid.

**TheLostHeroinesOfOlympus, could you possibly send me a PM? I remember you saying about how you were a WW2 fan, and I was hoping you could help me with some of the things I need to know for this. And I'm too stupid to figure out how to send my own PM. That would be awesome! Thanks!**


	3. Chapter 3

Funny How Life Works 3

**Sorry, I went on vacation for a week, so that's why this is so late! I hope all readers were patient! Also, I'm thinking of putting this on Wattpad, what do you guys think?**

**-Rebec's POV-**

"What do you want, Dickie?" I asked, ignoring the punk behind me.

Richard a.k.a. 'Dickie', hated my nickname for him, just as I hated the one he gave me.

"That's not my name, Reject," He shot back, turning red in the face. Behind him, his comrades snickered, discovering a new name to call him by. "You should really learn to talk nicer to the most popular guy in school. You never know, he might be able to make you some friends."

'Dickie' was always rubbing in the fact that he had everyone in this middle school wrapped around his finger. While I was the nerd of the school's ranks, and had no one to talk to.

Of course, being at the bottom had its perks, and one of them was deafness to Richards smooth talking. Sometimes he tried to put some moves on me, but a black eye was as far as he ever got.

"No friends for the reject then, I guess." I sang, slamming my locker shut, and turning to leave with a smirk. There was no way I would ever talk nicely to that jerk.

"That's too bad for you, Becky."

I froze, and my smirk vanished. There were only two people in the entire world who were allowed to call me 'Becky', and Richard Hartley was definitely not one of them.

Before you could say "Look out", my fist met Dickie's nose with a sickening 'CRACK!' and he crumpled to the floor in a heap.

"You've got some nerve calling me 'Becky', Hotshot," I shouted at his groaning figure on the ground, "And if you think that you're gonna get off easy next time, then you can kiss my foot!" I emphasized the last part of my statement with a 'stomp'.

With that, I turned on my heel and began to leave, but I didn't get very far. Crashing into something, I toppled to the floor landing on my butt with a 'thud'.

"What's going on here!" The thing I crashed into roared.

"Reject punched Richard!" Richard's posse piped up, speaking for the first time during the whole incident.

Looking up, I smiled sheepishly at our principal, Ms. Hanna, the 'thing' I crashed into.

She was a strict lady, but I think she had a soft spot for me, and she was the only one in this school who did.

She was also the only lady ever allowed to call me by my first name, mostly because she refused to call me Rebec, and insisted that Rebecca was more proper.

"Did you?" She peered down from her spectacles at me and tapped her foot steadily against the floor, already knowing the answer.

"The meatball asked for it." I muttered, getting up from the floor.

"Always the honest one," She murmured, "You boys go home already, I'll handle it from here."

She spun on her heel, and marched off to her office, with me following.

Once inside she slammed the door, and locked it so that we were alone and could talk in privet.

"What did poor Richard do to you now?" She asked, while I made myself comfortable in one of the chairs, ready for the lecture.

"He called me 'Becky'."

"Now Rebecca, 'Becky' is a very nice name, there is no reason to have broken Richard's nose over such a silly thing. The poor boy was probably only trying to be friends with you."

'_Be friends with me, my butt!_' I thought to myself with a scowl.

"I already explained this to you Ms. Hanna," I said impatiently, "There are only two people in this entire world who are allowed to call me 'Becky' and Dickie is not one of them."

"Richard is his name Rebecca, not 'Dickie'," She interrupted me, "And please do tell me who those two people are."

"You already know who they are Ms. Hanna."

"I know Isaac is, but you won't tell me the other person." She was starting to get frustrated.

"That's because _I_ don't even know who he is anymore."

Ms. Hanna sank down into the chair behind her desk rubbing her temples and trying to keep calm.

"I don't know what to do with you Rebecca; you're in here every other day of the week and always for fighting! You're in seventh grade now; don't you think that you should be acting more lady-like for a change?"

I was a useless question and she knew it. I loved my trousers too much to give them up for a silly principal who couldn't tell the difference between bullying and making friends.

"The day I become a lady will be the day when pigs learn to fly." I replied slouching down more in the chair and crossing my legs.

"That's what I thought you'd say." She muttered, exasperated.

Suddenly there was a knock on the door, ending our discussion.

Ms. Hanna got up to open and unlock it, her tired steps treading softly on the hard rug.

With a semi-loud 'creak', she peeked out to see whoever it was.

"Ms. Hanna, Isaac's mother didn't come to pick him up again today. Is Rebec there to walk him home?"

"Yes, she's here." Ms. Hanna murmured in reply, looking to me. I was already on my feet and waiting to go.

"Alright, off you go then." She said stressfully, turning sideways to let me out of her office.

"'Bye Ms. Hanna." I chirped in reply.

Outside the office, the hallways were empty and dim, signaling the end of the school day. The lady who announced that Zacky, my brother, needed to be taken home led me outside, where a very hyper boy waited on the curb.

"Becky!" He shouted once he saw me, and ran into my open arms.

Isaac, or Zacky, was an energetic, five-year old blonde haired boy, just starting elementary school. With him, he carried a small backpack given to him on his first day of 1st grade full of pencils and colorful things designed to keep him busy for the whole six hours of school. He loved every living thing that moved, and was always bringing home small animals he found hurt in the park. But his favorite animals were squirrels, which he never had luck catching.

"Is Becky gonna take me home today?" He asked, wiping his nose on his sleeve.

"Yes, Rebec is going to take you home Isaac," The lady replied and turned to me. "Are you sure you got him? Do you need a ride home?"

"I got 'im," I said. "And it's not far from here, we'll just walk."

Actually, our house _was_ pretty far from here, but the lady didn't need to know that.

The woman turned and dismissed herself to go back to her work, and Zacky and I started walking to the hell-hole we lived in.


	4. Chapter 4

Funny How Life Works 4

**-Rebec's POV-**

5…4…3…2…1 And welcome home Rebec.

The house that we called 'home' wasn't much at all. It was two stories tall, not including the attic and was about the size of a duplex home; only no one else lived in it but us. The wooden exterior was a chipped brown and the porch was a paint job way overdue. Dead bunches of tangled weeds remained of what once was multiple flowerbeds in front and around the sides of the house.

Looking from afar, you'd think the place was haunted, but you had to live there to really imagine the true terrors inside.

Walking up the three steps and crossing to the front door, Zacky stopped me before I had a chance to let us both inside.

"Becky," He asked with a quiver in his voice. "Do you think he's drunk again?"

I paused, hand on the doorknob, and cautiously pressed my ear against the wood; there was no sound except for deep snoring coming from the living room.

"It's clear Zacky," I whispered. "He's asleep."

Softly turning the knob, I winced as the door swung open with a loud 'SQUEAK!' but otherwise we made no sound coming into the house.

"Alrighty Zacky, you go upstairs while I get tonight's dinner." I told him, handing him my backpack, and shooing him up the stairs.

I slipped off my shoes so they wouldn't make any noise on the floor, and crept to the kitchen. In the icebox there was a bag of carrots and two apples, which I grabbed. It wouldn't be much of a meal tonight, but it was better than nothing, and nothing was what we were used to.

Snatching up the food and stashing it into my jacket pockets, I turned and headed straight for the stairs that would lead to the only safe haven in this house. Slipping back into the main hallway, I was just grabbing onto the banister rail to swing myself up when

"What do you think you're doing?"

I froze midstep.

Turning around slowly, I faced the woman who just walked in, she had blonde hair mussed all around her head and smushed lipstick covering half of her face, remnants of her affair from last night.

Somewhere in the living room, an abrupt snore cut off in the middle announced that Mr. O'Connell from the living room was awake.

"Hi Mom."

I could have called her a bunch of other names, some very colorful, but she refused Mrs. O'Connell with a passion, and would slap me if I called her that or anything else, excepting 'Mom'.

"Again, what are you doing?"

"It's called 'going upstairs'." I said sarcastically.

"Don't be smart with me." Whoops, that was the wrong thing to say.

Somewhere in the living room, Mr. O'Connell started yelling his head off.

"Woman! Where's supper? Why is everyone shouting? Are the brats here? Where are all my beers?"

Uh-Oh. That was my cue to get out of here. If Mr. O'Connell found me here in this state, well, let's just say things would not end good.

"I don't know where all your beers are!" 'Mom' screamed frustrated, entering the living room.

That was my cue to get out of there.

I shot up the stairs, refusing to be caught, and literally dove into Zacky and I's bedroom. Slamming the door behind me, I locked it just in time to hear the beginnings of the storm downstairs.

"Becky," Zacky slammed into me, giving me a hug. "What happened?"

I slumped against the door and pulled him closer, letting out a long breath.

"Just a close call, Zacky. Just a close call."


	5. Chapter 5

Funny How Life Works 5

**Sorry this is so late, I was working on my other story and it was longer than I expected, but here it is!**

**But in our excitement, let us take a moment to remember those who died in the 9-11 attack that took place 10 years ago today. I am American, and although I am too young to remember exactly what happened on that day, I remember hearing about the devastating twin towers and how many people lost their lives that day. Let us also salute our troops for they have fought in other unstable countries to keep battles from coming to our shores. God Bless America, and all of you lovely readers!**

**-Rebec's POV-**

"Becky, tell me a story."

Zacky was happily munching on the carrot sticks I snagged earlier, while scribbling away in an A, B, C coloring book he had gotten from his teacher today, while I was doing my homework in the corner. The arguments of Mr. And Mrs. O'Connell had fizzled out since earlier, and Zacky and I were now relaxing in the silence that remained.

"Please Becky?"

"Zacky, I don't know any stories to tell you." I pointed out, putting down my pencil for the moment.

"Then make one up!"

"It's not that easy Zacky."

"Please…."

I looked at that round cute face and into those big blue eyes shining with excitement. I couldn't resist that face, and he knew it.

"How about I read you one from a storybook," I suggested. "I got one from the library today."

"You got a story from the library!" He shrieked, his mouth gaping in an 'O' shape. "Read it to me! Read it to me! Read it to me!" He started going crazy, leaping up onto his bed and jumping around while I fished through my backpack to get it.

Once finding the book, I crawled up beside him and leaned against the soft pillows propped up against the headboard of his bed. Zacky cuddled into my side, finally calming down, and put his head in the crook of my shoulder to be able to see the pictures that went along with the fairytales that he couldn't read by himself yet.

"Once upon a time, in a kingdom far, far away…"

**-Edmund's POV (Now in England, the year 1940)-**

Strobe lights probed the dark night air. Somewhere overhead, airplanes were buzzing around overhead, trying not to be caught in the light looking for them.

"Edmund! Get away from there!" My mother screamed, coming into the living room and finding me gazing out between the curtains of the window.

She yanked me backwards, and closed the same pieces of cloth I had been looking out of moments before, cutting of the light from outside.

"Peter!" She called for my other brother, before grabbing my shoulders and making me listen to her. "What do you think you're doing!"

I would've answered her, but she didn't give me the chance to, instead she turned to face Peter as he came running into the sitting room.

"Go quickly- The shelter- Now!" She kept cutting herself off mid-sentence while giving Peter orders. Then shoving me into him, she ran upstairs.

"Wait! No!" I screamed in protest, but Peter refused to acknowledge me, instead saying "No! Leave it!"

"MOMMY!" Lucy, my younger sister, yelled from her bedroom upstairs in a panic, and I heard Susan, my older sister yelling at her to "Come on!"

Mom led the way, running out of the house with all four of us on her heels.

Lucy was screaming and crying at the same time, Susan was yelling for her to shut up, and Peter was chasing me, shouting "GO!"

"WAIT!" I cried, turning around and sprinting off in the other direction. "DAD!"

"ED!" Peter tried grabbing a hold of the collar on my shirt to make me stop, but I just pulled out of his grip and kept going.

"EDMUND NO!" My Mum screamed.

"I'LL GET HIM!" Peter tore after me, yelling backwards to our mother.

"PETER COME BACK!" She demanded, but he didn't listen.

Ignoring the both of them, I streaked to the sitting room and fumbled with one of the pictures on our side-table.

"EDMUND GET DOWN!" Peter screamed, tackling me to the ground just as the window behind us shattered into a million pieces, and someone across the street screamed.

"COME ON YOU IDIOT! RUN!" Peter got up and yanked me to my feet, while I struggled to hand on to the sharp glass of the picture.

"GET OUT!" He screamed, dragging me out of the house for the second time.

Once out racing for the bomb shelter in the backyard, two airplane shadows raced alongside us.

"Hurry!" Mum hustled us inside. Once in safety, Peter shoved me to the floor and started shouting about how selfish I was, when he was the one trying to act all brave and decided to run after me.

"Peter! Stop it!" Mum had the decency to yell at him for once, instead of me.

"Why can't you just do as you're told." He muttered, and Mum pulled me into a hug.

All I could do was glare at him and hold on to the picture of Dad as he slammed the door shut in disgust.


	6. Chapter 6

Funny How Life Works 6

**Hello again fans; long time no read right? Ha! Anyway I have decided this will be based off of both the book and movie, but mostly the book. Some scenes and/or descriptions may come from the movie, but I am trying to keep mostly to the books. Thanks for reading!**

**-Rebec's POV-**

"Hey Reject! Where do you think you're going?"

'Oh dear god, please take me now.' I thought to myself, wishing the jerk-face would just buzz off, and slammed my locker shut.

"The library, a place where you would never be able to survive." I muttered to myself, but "Dickie" heard just the same.

"I can read you know. I'm not a stupid knucklehead." The idiot leaned on my locker trying to look cute, but it just annoyed me.

"Really," I smirked, not being able to stop myself, "Because you sure don't act like it."

Turning, I stalked out of the school, only to find at the end of the sidewalk, his pack of gorillas waiting for me.

Rolling my eyes at them, I walked to the other end of the pavement, determined not to let them get the best of me. I stopped at the edge of the sidewalk by a sign that read _Capitan Cook Middle School_, and waited for the crossing guard to let me pass.

As I tapped my foot impatiently, a bright, shiny, black _Delahaye 135 convertible_ pulled up to the opposite side of the street in front of the library. In it, there sat a very pretty blonde-haired girl in a blue floral-print dress with a matching hat, and a dark haired man in the driver's seat. They were both laughing at some unknown joke to me, and the man gave the girl a peck on the cheek as she got out of the car.

Even though they probably meant no harm, I felt a low blow deep in my stomach and water pricked the edges of my eyes. Why did I feel this way?

The girl slammed the car door lightly and walked in to the library, while the man drove off.

Noticing the crossing guard motioning me over, I stepped out onto the still street and walked to the same place the girl had moments before.

**-Edmund's POV-**

The train station was crowded. Too crowded. I didn't like it.

I didn't like being sent away like a child either, I wanted to stay home, but Mum wouldn't allow it. So now I was being forced on a train to god knows where, to be babysat.

It didn't help that everyone kept rubbing in the fact that I had gone back for the picture of Dad during the bombing. It was nice to know I was the only one who cared about him still, note the sarcasm.

Mum was over murmuring something to Lucy, probably telling her to be strong, while Lucy was blubbering and sniffling like a baby. She needed to grow out of that.

Somewhere in the background, an infant was crying, and the sound dampened my already sour mood.

Mum came over to me then, and attached some kind of tag to my jacket. I merely glared at a poster that hung on the wall: _Help the Children: Housing Evacuees is a National Service. _Below, there skipped a group of children and a smiling adult.

Like leaving home and living with some stranger was a happy thought. The poster made me sick to my stomach by just looking at it.

"If Dad were here, he wouldn't make us go." I spat.

"If Dad were here, the war would be over and we wouldn't have to go." Peter barked his way in, trying to act like the grown-up he wasn't.

Breaking us up, Mum cut in "You will listen to your brother, won't you, Edmund?"

I shot a look at Peter; absolutely not. I would never listen to that prat.

Hearing no response, Mum stood up and pulled me into a hug. She tried to kiss me on the cheek too, but I pulled away; kisses were for babies. She gave me a peck on the head anyway, while Susan glared at me.

'At least I'm not a know-it-all like you.' I mentally yelled to my bossy older sister.

Mum grabbed Peter next, and trying to be discreet she whispered in his ear: "Promise me you'll look after the others."

I frowned even more; I wasn't an 'other', I had a name. Maybe Mum had forgotten it already since she was sending us away and probably didn't want to see us ever again.

"I will Mum." Peter said.

Pulling away, she set her eyes on snobby Susan.

"Susan," Mum even smiled at her. "Be a big girl."

"ALL ABOARD." Some engineer announced.

I picked up my suitcase, and the others did the same.

Susan, releasing Mum, grabbed my hand like a four-year-old.

"Hey get off! I know how to get on a train all by myself! Get off me!" She finally had the decency to let go then, but I still was mad.

Pushing and shoving our way through the crowd of people, we finally managed to get on board. Shutting the door behind us, someone gave the signal and the train began to move.

Lucy, Peter and Susan fit themselves in a window and began waving to Mum. I couldn't see her anymore, but I stuck my hand out anyway, wanting to wave too. I doubted she'd see me through Peter, like she always did, but I waved anyway.

It was going to be a long train ride.

**Yes, it's short. And yes, it took a while. I'm sorry for the delay, I just am not feeling this chapter (if you know what I mean) and I sort-of gave up and decided to just write it. Hopefully it sounds good.**


	7. Chapter 7

Funny How Life Works 7

**Okay readers! I just popped the movie in, and I have my copy of The Lion, the Witch, and the Wardrobe by my side, let's see how this goes…**

**-Rebec's POV-**

Walking up to the battered old wooden doors, I pushed them open, revealing the musky, curtain-windowed, dusty library.

I felt as if I had just arrived home.

Looking around, I saw the pretty girl from the car behind the reception desk. She was on the phone, a large, black, hand cranking machine, and was talking excitedly to someone on the other end.

Not wanting to interrupt her avid conversation, I tip-toed past her and the desk, eager to find my way to the fiction center and grab a new fairy-tale for Zacky. I myself wanted to set my hands on that juicy new copy of _Oliver Twist. _

The library already had a version of the tale of the orphaned boy, but it was so beat up if you opened to the first page, the rest of the novel fell to pieces.

And that's without having to try and read it, but you get my point, so I'll just leave it at that.

Setting _Rapunzel_, last night's story aside, I wandered my way around the enormous bookshelves. Titles of my favorites stood out, like _A Tale of Two Cities, Moby Dick, Great Expectations, King Solomon's Mines, _and even _Little Women._

But right now I wasn't into the classics, no, I was looking for the tales of _King Arthur and the Knights of the Round Table, Hansel and Gretel, _and _Cinderella._

Surprisingly for a boy, Zacky loved the fairytales of older times full of magic and adventure, and sometimes a little romance. (Like _Cinderella_ and _Rapunzel_)

I can still hear our discussion after finishing _King Arthur_.

===[===== ===[===== ===[===== =====]=== =====]=== =====]===

"Becky," I looked up at him from the cover of _King Arthur and the Knights of the Round Table. _"I wanna be just like Arthur when I grow up. I want to find a Camelot and rule it alongside my best followers."

"You can be whatever you want to be Zacky." I said smiling up at him from the closed cover.

"And you'll come along with me won't you?" He opened his eyes up wide, giving me a pleading gaze.

I sighed, but kept smiling. "What use will I be to such a great king, Zacky? I can't be your queen, 'cuz I'm your sister, and I can't very well be a brave knight either because I'm a girl." I paused. "So you tell me, what can I be to you?"

Thinking for a moment, he came up with his answer. "You can be whatever you want to be, Becky!"

"Well then… How about I be…" I trailed off. "Head of Security. That way I'm close to you and your knights and I can do what I do best, defense."

His eyes went wide. "Oh, that's great! Why didn't I think of that? I'm supposed to be king, so I have to come up with all the good ideas!"

The few clocks we had around the house chimed nine bells then: nine o'clock.

I grabbed him and held him close, hugging him to my chest. "There's plenty of time for that Zacky, but right now, it's time to go to bed."

He grumbled and wormed him way out of my grip, getting ready to go to sleep. Tucking himself in, he fell into dreams full of knights on shining steeds and rescuing princesses to his hearts delight.

===[===== ===[===== =====]=== =====]===

Sighing to myself, I heard someone sneeze at the end of the aisle with a big "AH-CHOO". Jumping slightly in instinct, I turned to see who it was.

Peering from around the shelf furthest away, was the lady from the desk.

"Oh, hello there! I didn't mean to scare you, this library's just so dusty, sometimes I can't keep myself from sneezing." She smiled, walked over to me, and held out her hand. "I'm Kristie Kirke, the new librarian working here."

Hesitating for just a moment, I took her in. She didn't seem like she meant any harm, and if she worked in my safe haven then it would be wise to trust her.

"Rebec Barron, I come here to read a lot." I replied, shaking her hand.

"Rebec?" She paused. "Is that short for Rebecca?"

"Yeah," I let go of her hand. "I don't like Rebecca, so people just call me Rebec."

"Well then, since you're here so often, I think you'll agree with me that this place needs a bit of cleaning up. I mean, look around, there's dust everywhere!" She pulled aside one of the curtains, letting a blast of sunlight burst through the window. Along with the light, came an explosion of dust, proving her point.

Gazing around for the first real time, I found she was right. Scattered all over everything were piles of dust, which you couldn't see at all in the dark.

"Yeah," I agreed. "This place does need a good cleaning."

She chuckled. "I'm glad you think so too, I plan to give this old place a make-over! Starting with all of this disgusting dust!"

Walking away, I watched her as she crept along between the shelves. Silently, I had an internal debate with myself, before sliding the book I was holding back on the shelf and catching up with her.

"Do you need any help?"

**-Lucy's POV-**

"Hissssh!"

Peter slid open the cabin door with a hiss. Hustling me inside, he took my suitcase and pushed it atop a rack that hung over the seats.

He went to help Ed too, but with Ed being the moody brother he is, he shook away Peter and hefted his bag up all by himself. He's always been cranky like that since Dad went away to the war. Dad had a soft spot for Ed and gave him special attention, but when he went away, the Edmund I knew did too.

I tried to look around the cabin, but at that moment, the train passed through a tunnel, and so the whole compartment was filled with darkness for a few minutes.

When the black had receded again, it revealed two other kids just like us. One was a girl older than me, but younger than Edmund. She wore a reddish-brown hat and coat, with a red plaid collar poking out of a white sweater. The other was a boy, younger than me, in a grey coat, a white shirt, and a grey tie.

Sitting down in the seat across from them and next to grumpy Ed, who was looking out the window, I played with my stuffed puppy Mum had let me bring along. Peter sat alongside the two children, and they seemed a little intimidated by him.

"His name is Scruffy," I spoke, mostly to the boy, in spite of my usual shyness. "Would you like to play with him?"

He gave a small sad smile, before shaking his head and sinking into the seat. I think he did want to play with Scruffy, but was just too timid to say so.

After a few long hours, it became early afternoon, and the train stopped for a moment.

"Goosey station. Goosey station!" Someone, probably a conductor, announced.

The two other children stood up and grabbed what little they had to carry. I felt bad to see them off, but when they exited the cabin, the unknown tension seemed to relax.

Peering around Edmund, I silently watched them as they were taken away by some very grumpy old people. They looked so sad, I wanted to run out and demand that those adults leave them alone. But, I couldn't, all I could do was watch, and so the children were carted away by the old people like animals.

Peter, seemingly glad the other two had gone away, settled himself across the now empty seat and began to read a book.

I found myself relaxing a bit more too, and soon I was cuddled into Edmund. He didn't seem to like me being there, but he let me stay that way nonetheless.

The train kept pushing on, and the minutes kept ticking away until finally we came to our stop. Trying to get everything together at the last second, we almost missed getting off, but we made it just in time. And the train sped away, leaving us stranded at what could hardly be considered a station.

All it was was a wooden deck. With a few scattered white walls along the sides, it waited for us, completely empty of people.

"HONK HONK!" A car spluttered in the distance.

Racing each other down the small flight of stairs, we made a dash for the road, hoping with all our might that it was the people come to take care of us. I wished they were nice, but as long as they didn't make us work like slaves, I was happy.

Sadly, our hopes were for nothing and the black bumper car sped past, still blaring his horn, and leaving us sprayed with mud behind.

Blinking in astonishment, we stood there like idiots for quite some time.

"The Professor knew we were coming." Susan said.

"Perhaps we were incorrectly labeled." Edmund wondered aloud, almost seeming happy about it.

It was only a few seconds later when we got our answer, in the form of a white horse trotting up the road to the station.

"C'mon HUP!"

The horse was pulling a small carriage driven by a stern lady with a whip.

"And whoa, whoa." The horse stopped at the lady's command.

"Mrs. Macready?" Peter asked hesitantly.

"I'm afraid so." She sounded like she had a sense of humor, but with her back sitting up ramrod straight and her sour expression, she sure didn't look like it.

Edmund cracked a smile out of the corner of my eye; he would be up to no good while we were here.

"Is this it then? Haven't you brought anything else?" Her face softened, but just a little.

"No Ma'am." Peter spoke the bitter truth. "It's just us."

I nodded, backing him up, and Mrs. Macready pityingly gazed at us. "Small favors." She motioned for us to get in the back of the carriage. When we had, she set off to our new "home".

**-Rebec's POV-**

I never realized just how big the library was, until I started helping Kristie.

She was a happy worker, always humming or singing as she dusted and scrubbed. And sometimes she would ask me questions about myself. I managed to skirt around the ones involving family, excepting Zacky. She loved hearing about him and wanted to meet him as soon as his school let out for the day.

It wasn't until the church bells tolled 3:00 that I realized something was wrong. Zacky usually got here to help me pick out the next book around 2:50 p.m. and he wasn't here yet.

Peeking out the window at the front, I peered out to try and look for him. Luckily, he was just on the sidewalk, but unluckily, "Dickie" was out there too.

Richard and his band of gorillas had managed to get a hold of Zacky's book-bag and were holding it above his head and making him jump for it. It was a vicious game of cat-and-mouse; Richard always kept the bag just out of reach and his posse circled around him, cheering him on.

Letting out a little gasp that made Kristie look up in concern, I raced out the door and onto the sidewalk.

I saw nothing but red.

Racing blind with rage, I sprinted towards the first bully in sight. Before either him, or the others could blink, I had him down on the ground clutching a crimson nose.

Ignoring the others, I snatched "Dickie" by the collar of his shirt and looked him straight in the eyes.

"H-h-hey l-l-look who decided to show up, it's Reject!" He managed to stammer, nervously.

"Put Zacky's book-bag down." I ordered. When he didn't, I clenched his collar tighter in my fist and gave him my best evil-eye.

The bag dropped to my feet a second later.

Aside of me, I heard Zacky picked it up and slung it over his shoulder.

"Listen up, you!" I yelled in Richard's face, even though he was right in front of me. "You can pick on me all you want, but if you mess with my little brother ever again, I'm gonna knock your block off. You hear me?"

He nodded his head so fast, it looked like it was a blur.

Adding to the affect, Zacky crossed his arms and gave "Dickie" his best glower.

Releasing him, I gave him a punch to the gut for good measure.

"Now scram! All of you!" I pointed away from the library, and they ran off like a flock of startled birds.

Once the bullies were out of sight, Zacky said. "Thanks Becky."

I grabbed him into a hug until he complained. "Becky let me go."

"Come on, there is someone who wants to meet you." I motioned towards the library.

Excitedly, he bounded up the steps and I followed, purposely ignoring the open stares from the window.


	8. Chapter 8

Funny How Life Works 8

**Sorry if there are any mistakes, I got a netbook for Christmas and I'm still trying to get used to typing on it. I will double check for typos, but if I miss a few, please don't be upset. I'm doing my best!**

**-Rebec's POV-**

"Oh my goodness! Oh my goodness! Are you two alright?"

"We're fine Kristie." I muttered, looking down at the floor.

"And you must be the famous Zacky! Rebec has told me so much about you!"

Zacky beamed, he loved attention, especially from pretty girls. As Kristie cooed over him, I made myself scarce among the many bookshelves and kept cleaning. She was probably angry at me, I guess, but I couldn't face her, now I'd probably lost my only safe haven.

I couldn't say I was sorry though, I would've done it a thousand more times with the same result than watch those creeps pick on my little brother ever again.

I was only scrubbing for a few minutes when she popped her head around the corner.

"Rebec?"

"…Yes?"

"I saw what happened."

I dug the cleaning rag I was using into the shelf just a little harder. "I know."

"Did you want to talk about it?"

"Not really."

She leaned against the shelf closest to her and crossed her arms in from of her chest. "This isn't the first time those boys have bothered you, isn't it?"

I didn't answer.

"I expected so."

She stayed silent.

"Zacky told me his full name…" She trailed off, and I could tell where this conversation was going. "Zackary Joseph O'Connell..."

She trailed off again.

"And my last name is Barron. You're not the first to notice the difference." I finished for her. "He's technically my half-brother and Mr. O'Connell's son. "

"What about your father?"

I sighed. "England, I think, got the heck out of here after I was born."

"That's really far away."

"I like to think he's fighting in the war, but I don't really know." I stopped and added. "Or care."

I hated talking about family, but I guess she had a right to know just like anybody else who thought to ask.

"Do you and Mr. O'Connell get along okay?"

The room was quiet for a little while.

"I think he's getting used to me."

That part was mostly true, he was getting used to having me around to do all the work and if I didn't do it right… Well, let's just say he then had me around for the consequences.

"Zacky says you don't…"

"Well Zacky is a little young to understand some things." I snapped harshly, leading her from the truth.

Taking the bait, she lead us even more off topic. "You've done a beautiful job cleaning up…"

I turned to look at her. "Thanks."

"…And I could use an assistant, someone good with books…" She paused. "I'd pay you five cents a day if you'd come and work with me after school."

I was completely shocked. "Really?"

"Yes, Rebec. So, what do you say?"

I thought it over, I'd never had a job before and Zacky and I could really use the money…

"I'll take it."

Kristie beamed.

I hadn't lost my safe haven; I'd beaten up the bad guys, and got a job all in the same 24 hours.

Could life get any better?

But I had a feeling that the good wouldn't last.


	9. Chapter 9

Funny How Life Works 9

-Rebec's POV-

My earlier statement, _I had a feeling the good wouldn't last,_ didn't come back to haunt me for a long while. In fact, things seemed to… get better.

Coming home from the library late, which we did that day, would have normally resulted in a punishment of some kind, but arriving home only resulted in surprising news.

Mr. O'Connell had finally gotten a job, two hours away.

Not only did this mean that both Zacky and I had some extra free time in the evenings, but it also meant we didn't have to creep around in the shadows during the morning as well. Also, with him gone 'mom' was mostly vacant as well, probably trying to 'hook-up' with more customers.

'Home' was almost always empty from morning to night.

As time passed, the library seemed to expand once the dust and dark was removed. I worked there every night I could and soon Zacky and I were able to save money in order to support ourselves. I learned how to spend the money we had, and not to splurge on expensive items in the grocery store.

Although, every now and then, I couldn't help but spoil Zacky with an ice cream on the way home from school.

'Dickie' or Richard, wasn't bothering me as much, instead he decided to actually be nice to me, believe it or not. The meatball started coming into the library several days a week, and without his gorillas behind him, he treated me decently.

I even managed to hide the remnants of Mr. O'Connell from Kristie.

I don't know why I did it; I guess. But I saw a newspaper clipping lying on the main desk one evening. The headline read _O'Connell Does It Again: Drunk In The Middle Of Town. _The article went on to describe how my 'amazing' home role model decided to show the world his full self in the middle if a populated city, it also went on to tell of how he resisted arrestment and was eventually let go because he was so intoxicated.

I wished that one day they'd lock him up for that and be done with him.

The article was left with a note, probably from Kristie's boyfriend, which read:

_Kristie,  
Isn't this the man you were telling me about that was the 'father' of your friend, Rebec?_

_ -Daniel_

Like I said, I don't know why I did it, but as soon as I saw it, I dumped both article and note in the trash, hoping she would never find it.

Luckily, she didn't notice it was missing.

**-Lucy's POV-**

You could say our new home wasn't much_, _but if you did, then you would have been lying. 'Home' turned out to be an enormous mansion, with hundreds of grime-covered windows. The professor, the man who owned the place, was really quite old. He had white hair both on his face and his head, but it didn't hang straight. Instead, it chose to curl out in all directions, making him have a crazy look about him.

He came out to greet us warmly, but I, shy as I always am, held on to Scruffy even tighter and hid behind Peter. But once he, Peter and Susan started talking, I found I kind of liked him. And while we were having a pleasant chat, Edmund was being rude. The first time he ever saw the professor, he snorted and tried to blow his nose to hide it. Mrs. Macready didn't notice, nor Professor Kirke , but it was still very wrong of him.

After Peter scolded him later in their room, we didn't hear much from Edmund for the rest of the week.

**-Kristie's POV-**

"Hey sweetheart." Daniel greeted me with a quick peck as I got into his car for our date. "How was your day?"

Shutting the door, I gave him a smile. "It was great. I taught Rebec to use the Dewey Decimal system to sort books by and I think she's getting the hang of it. She might be better at it than I am now."

"She's a smart kid." Daniel acknowledged, pulling out into the street. There was silence as he concentrated on the dark road only lit by streetlamps alongside the pavement. "Did you get my note?"

"Note?" I turned from the windshield to look at him. "What note?"

"I left a note on the reception desk for you today. Didn't you see it?"

"No."

He made a noise in the back of his throat.

"Why?"

Daniel pulled over outside of one of our favorite places to eat. The lights glowed through the windows, scattered by the mass of couples already inside, and their shadows danced and swayed as the people did. Lively music emanated from the restaurant, but the happiness the place was radiating didn't reach the two of us inside the car.

Daniel laid his arm across the headrest of his seat and looked at me. "I don't know if it was the same Mr. O'Connell as Rebec told you about, but with the note I left a newspaper clip. The article was about a Mr. O'Connell who had done something… not morally sound while drunk in a town some two hours away. Apparently, that same Mr. O'Connell lives around here and is known for doing unrational things while drinking."

I was a little mystified. "Rebec never said anything about him drinking…" I trailed off and Daniel waited for me to say something more. "But Zacky, Rebec's little brother, mentioned that his father's hobby was drinking out of 'funny-smelling bottles'."

Suddenly, the rumors I remembered hearing when I first moved here exploded back into my mind. "Stay away from the O'Connells…" "The Mr. likes to go out at night and buy beer and liquor, if he's had too much, you need to watch out for yourself…" "Oh, they're dangerous; Mr. O'Connell likes to drink his life away, while his Mrs. is known as 'the divorce maker'; she's always seen with other men, married or otherwise."

I just sat there for the longest time, shocked and confused. Why hadn't Rebec mentioned anything like this before?

"Are you okay?" Daniel asked.

"I just… Why didn't she say something?" I felt a little betrayed, and I knew Daniel could sense it.

"Well, if you had known about her background, would you have hired her to work for you in the library?" His question brought me up short.

"…Probably not." I hated to admit it, but it was true.

Daniel gave me a pointed look.

The car remained silent as I tried to process this new major piece of information. Daniel, meanwhile, was debating internally of what we were going to do now. I could tell that he wanted to go inside and have dinner, but didn't want to upset me while I was trying to sort all this out. Soon his frustrations seemed to stop, and he got the excited puppy-dog look to his face that meant he had an idea.

"Well, I have yet to meet this Rebec. Why don't we swing by her house and see if she and Zacky would like to come to dinner with us?"

I looked at him in disbelief. "Would you?"

He gave me one of those smiles that I was in complete love with. "No prob. Where does she live."

"Zacky told me Hawthorn road, by the beach."

-Time passes-

It didn't take us long to get to Hawthorn road, partially because Daniel knew some shortcuts to get there, since it was near the navy yard he volunteered for and gave tying-knot lessons at.

As we drove along, the smell of salt-water hit my nose and the sounds of the waves on shore hit my ears, but these things which would have normally calmed me, did little to loosen my anxiety.

It was easy to spot the house, considering it was the only building, besides the navy yard, on Hawthorn road.

As soon as I saw it, I immediately had a new respect for my worker. The house was almost in shambles, and looked as if it should have been closed down several years ago for safety reasons.

Daniel parked along the curb, and I opened the passenger door to get out, but he stopped me. "How about I go in for her?"

"No, she doesn't know you. She knows me."

Before he could argue further, I was already up the three creaking porch steps. But it didn't stop me from hearing the sound of metal-on-metal that meant he had pulled his revolver out from its hiding spot inside the car.

Knocking loudly on the wood, I waited for someone to open the door.

"Woman! There's someone at the door!"

"Then why don't you answer it!"

"'Cuz I have you around to do that for me!"

I gulped, maybe this hadn't been such a good idea. But before I had the chance to back out from the situation, the door slammed open to reveal a shorter woman, with messed up blonde hair.

"Wha'd ya want?" She snapped.

"Hi, I'm Kristie. I'm looking for Rebec, is she here?" I put on a fake smile to hide my discomfort.

The woman turned to a staircase behind her and shouted some very colorful language to someone upstairs. Then the audible sounds of scuffling feet were heard coming down.

Rebec hit the landing of the bottom of the stairs and looked up, to freeze in place.

"This lady's lookin' for ya'." Mrs. O'Connell jerked her thumb in my direction before stalking into the other room.

Closing the space between us, Rebec crept quietly from the stairs over to the front door. "What are you doing here?" She tried to hide the noticeable shaking of her hands behind her back.

"I wanted to see if you and Zacky would like to come to dinner with Daniel and I."

Her eyes darted to the entryway of the other room, before she nodded. Going back over to the stairway, she motioned upward for Zacky that it was okay to come downstairs. He bolted down like a freight train at high speed and dashed over to give me a hug. Rebec grabbed jackets for the both of them, before we headed outside.


	10. Chapter 10

Funny How Life Works 10

**Hello! I know you're all probably mad at me for not posting, and the truth behind that is because I've been busy. Lately I've been on vacation and my friend and I have been working on a new story which may or may not be posted on fanfiction, depending on how many of you like the Young Justice TV show. I know, really nerdy, but I can't help it, I love that show! Anyway, you're all probably looking forward to this chapter, so without further ado… read on!**

**And I'm serious about the Young Justice thing; leave me a review if you'd be interested!**

-Rebec's POV-

I couldn't believe it. How had Kristie been able to turn up here?

I knew the good stuff couldn't have lasted that long.

Was she going to fire me? Was she going to hate me? Oh no, she was going to throw me out of the library wasn't she? Oh no…

Daniel, Kristie's boyfriend drove the car to wherever we were eating, concentrating on the road. I had seen him slide away a revolver as we came back out of the house, and I felt ashamed that he felt the need to do that, but at the same time, he earned my respect. He was smart.

"Where're we going?" Zacky asked, excited to be riding in a car and looking at all the things passing by in a blur.

"There's a little café Daniel and I like to go to sometimes," Kristie explained. "We're headed there."

"Ok." He was satisfied with that.

I watched the time fly from the backseat.

Dinner was nice, even if Kristie and Daniel wouldn't let me help pay for it, and afterwards Kristie seemed hesitant to take us home. I had to insist, saying it was past Zacky's bedtime. I wouldn't let us be an intrusion on anyone's home or privacy.

Reluctantly, Kristie agreed and even walked us to the front door.

"Rebec," She laid a hand on my shoulder as I opened the door. "Come to me if you need anything. Okay?"

I nodded as Zacky raced into the house, saying goodbye to Kristie, then entered myself. Closing the door behind me, I waved as Daniel drove away, and shut the door with barely a sound.

In the living room, Mr. O'Connell watched them drive away from between the curtains.

**-The Pevencies-**

"It's raining!" Lucy exclaimed the next, dark, dreary morning.

"Of course it's raining! It's just our luck it would rain when we want to do something outside!" Edmund grumbled during breakfast, grumpy as ever.

"Well we can still find something to do," Susan said, angry at Edmund for being moody. "This is a huge house, there's bound to be something to do. I'm sure the professor has a library, perhaps we can all read until the rain clears up."

"No boring books for me!" Peter exclaimed. "This is a gigantic mansion, I want to explore!"

"We could play hide and seek!" Lucy shouted, jumping in excitement.

"But hide and seek is a kid's game!" Edmund argued, quieting Lucy.

"Oh, come off it, Ed. Here, I'll start counting. One, two, three…" Peter broke the brewing argument.

Everyone scattered, not wanting to be the first found at all, even though hide and seek was a children's game.

Lucy, dashing down the hallway, was panicking because Peter had almost counted to one hundred and would soon come looking for her, when she stumbled upon the wardrobe.

It was in a back room, and the only piece of furniture decorating it. She found herself tracing the carved wooden designs on the doors which portrayed animals and satyrs, and even a lion!

The lion seemed to be watching her, studying as she pried open the wardrobe to peer inside. There wasn't anything interesting: just some old fur coats, but it was a deep wardrobe and would hide her from Peter well enough. Hearing that he had reached the nineties, she leapt in without a second thought and closed the door just enough so no one would notice it was open.

Stepping backwards, she pushed aside furs from all sides, giggling a little when some of them tickled her nose, until she thought she should be nearing the hard back paneling.

It was then her foot stumbled, crunching something beneath her shined shoes.


	11. Chapter 11

Funny How Life Works 11

**I'm back! Did you miss me? Well… I did anyways. I'd apologize for such a long updating time, but I have a feeling most of you don't really want to hear it, haha, so go ahead and read! I'll try to put out more stuff sooner next time!**

-Rebec's POV-

"I didn't invite them here! They came on their own!" I shouted, holding up a hand to cover my face from my stance on the floor.

"Well now how did they know how to git here?! Someone must 'ave been telling them information!" Mr. O'Connell chucked his half-empty bottle and it shattered and stained the wall. Seven others had already shared the same fate. "Are you snitching?! You blasted bastard kid!"

"I don't know how they found out! I didn't tell them anything!" My eyes were shut, hoping my protests would somehow scratch through that fogged, thick skull of his. He grabbed my arm, forcing me to look at his disgusting face.

"Then how did they find ya' here in the first place?!" He left a stinging, red mark on my cheek.

"I said I don't know! Maybe they looked us up in the phone book or something!" Tears welled up as he shoved me away, my cool hand clinging to the hot pulse emanating from my face. I wasn't sure if they kept addresses in the phone book, but I knew if I didn't know, then there was no way he would.

Grumbling unintelligibly under his breath, he grabbed a new bottle, popped the cap and took a mighty swig from it, wiping his mouth on his wet sleeve afterwords.

"Well you make it clear that they aren't allowed back, ya' hear!"

"Mhm." I mumbled, switching hands to keep up the cool.

"Now git upstairs! I don't want to see your pathetic face anymore!"

I slipped on the old, faded, and stained brown carpet on my way to the stairs, but ignored the rug-burn that tore my knee and shot my way up, dodging a random bottle chucked my way. Peeling around the railing corner I dove into the sanctuary of my shared room with Zacky and slammed the door shut, making sure the lock clicked into place.

I leaned against it, pressing my hair into the cold, dark wood and pulled my knees to my chest.

Zacky crawled out from under the bed, shivering and missing his sweater. He crawled his way onto my lap. "Becky?"

I hugged him, not letting go even when he squirmed.

"Becky?" He got that puppy-dog look in his eyes as he started to talk. "I'm sorry."

"For what, Zacky?"

"I told Kristie where we lived. I thought she was your friend and she might want to have a sleep-over sometime." I almost cried, kissing his cheek and pulling him closer, if possible.

I took a moment to regain my composure. "Kristie is my friend Zacky, but she can't stay over, she's too big to have sleep-overs." I hated lying to him like that.

"Why is she too big to have sleep-overs?"

"She's an adult, Zacky, they forget how to have sleep-overs."

"But Mommy has sleep-overs all the time." I didn't know what to say to that. I didn't even know he knew about that. I sighed in disappointment, she probably told him, and he's not even six!

"Well… Mommy hasn't really grown-up yet."

"Oh." Zacky cuddled into my embrace and eventually fell asleep.

But no matter how much I wanted to, I just couldn't find it in me to let my restless soul find peace.


End file.
